The Brooklyn Nets are very much cooking on gas, with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving very much in the ascendency. Their latest win, a 125-117 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, makes it nine wins on the bounce and is continued proof that recently appointed head coach Jacque Vaughn is moving the Barclays Center side in the right direction.
Under Steve Nash, it was clear that the Nets were a team bursting with potential, hence Brooklyn leading the betting ahead of last season, but various issues both on and off the court led to a limp failure to run deep into the postseason.
The win over the Cavaliers leaves the Nets as 22-12 and very much a team worth backing with any potential wager. When it comes to sports betting in NY, you should check out the various options available, therefore helping you to make an informed and educated choice that will help you maximize your potential payout on Brooklyn’s continued success.
Nash’s roster was an embarrassment of riches that simply didn’t gel on his watch, and now it’s Vaughn’s responsibility to get the most out of what he has in his armory. It’s a well-worn issue, and one that experienced star Durant has been fairly honest about in recent weeks;
”To be honest, we’ve always been about basketball,”
”The outside noise makes it seem like we don’t care about the game, but so many voices speak about our locker room who don’t have any idea what’s going on.”
”We’ve always been about the game.”
Now, while this may well be true, sometimes the outside noises have been partly self-inflicted, and the Nets’ stars have sometimes been their own worst enemies.
Even in the Nets’ darkest periods over the past 18 months or so, Durant has pretty much always delivered the goods, and the 32 points he fired in against Cleveland meant that the 34-year-old two-time NBA champion has lifted himself into 15th place on the career scoring list, leap-frogging the great Tim Duncan in the process;
”At some point, you’ve got to be able to celebrate some small wins,”
”To be able to pass a legend, it’s something I’ll call my folks about tonight. I know that I’ve got more to do.” Durant added.
Kyrie Irving matched Durant’s 32-point haul, and the 30-year-old is no doubt excited by the fact that column inches generated by his actions this season are down primarily to his playing form and not other more contentious matters that have next to nothing to do with the game.
On the Nets’ continued signs of progress, Vaughn was asked to comment on what has been behind the change in fortunes, to which he responded fairly matter-of-factly;
”Basketball,” before expanding;
”We stripped our playbook, and we created a little momentum,” he said. ”Guys are playing extremely free of mind, and they’ve done an unbelievable job keeping the focus on basketball.”
The Nets are looking like a solid bet to ease into the play-offs and are a good bet to fight the Boston Celtics in the hunt for the Atlantic Division.
